


"Can't Help Falling in Love"

by w_esty



Series: Merhayes [1]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27804490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w_esty/pseuds/w_esty
Summary: Meredith is healed from COVID-19. After receiving two negative test results, she spent some days with her children at home before returning to work. When she returned to work, she decided she will spend the following weeks at a hotel. Hayes stays at the same hotel and they finally drink some whiskey together.
Relationships: Meredith Grey/Cormac Hayes, merhayes - Relationship
Series: Merhayes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2034352
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33





	"Can't Help Falling in Love"

**Author's Note:**

> Please be aware that English is not my mother tongue.  
> I prefer to write in a script-format, it is intentional.

Character list  
Dr. Meredith Grey  
Dr. Cormac Hayes

Place: Meredith`s hotel room near the hospital 

Meredith is healed from COVID-19. After receiving two negative test results, she spent some days with her children at home before returning to work. When she returned to work, she decided she will spend the following weeks at a hotel protecting Amelia and the children.

Meredith is in her hotel room. Someone is knocking on the door, she opens it. Hayes is standing there with a bottle of whiskey.

Meredith - I hope you don't want to drink that whole bottle alone.  
[opens the door widely]

Hayes - And I hope you appreciate the fact that this is my last bottle of Irish whiskey for a while. For some inexplicable reason it does not count as essential goods for international transport these days.

Meredith - Noted. I can offer some very bad cold American pizza in exchange. And you still owe me that story about the teenager Hayes behind an electric fence.

[Hayes enters smilingly, they clink glasses, drink and eat pizza]

Hayes- Look who is back from death.

Meredith [smiles] - Yeah, heaven seemed kinda boring. 

Hayes - Why are you so confident you deserved to be in heaven?

Meredith [she says with a half-smile] - Because of the company. 

[silence, Hayes nods knowingly]

Hayes - Was it difficult? To come back from there?

Meredith - Well, ask Teddy, she was the one who brought me back.

Hayes - I mean...was it difficult to want to come back? Wasn't it too tempting to stay there?

Meredith [nods] - It was.

Hayes - What made you want to return? The children?

Meredith [shakes her head] - The children didn't make me want to come back, they made me know that I have to come back. But then I realized...it is not true. They don`t need my existence. If I died and they were raised by all the people I consider as family, they would turn out just fine. They would receive everything they need; they would receive an extraordinary amount of love and care and wisdom. They` re old enough for not needing a mother just for the sake of having one. They need a mother who wants to live, who is not only here because she feels an obligation to exist. 

Hayes [just looks at her silently for seconds] - I have been accused of being a hollow myself. I can understand what they mean by that, but I just don't feel the push to change it.

Meredith - It helps a lot when the manifestation of your dead husband in your head calls you pathetic and tells you he wishes he could kick you in the ass.  
[grimaces then smiles]

Hayes - Interesting, I could call you many things - bossy? Sure. Stubborn? Sure. But pathetic? Doesn`t add up.

Meredith - God, you know how to court a woman.  
[giggles]

Hayes - Sorry, I`m not the flattering kind. 

Meredith - Anyway, I didn`t know you moved in here as well. Who is with your boys?

Hayes - We moved out of the apartment and I drove them to LA this weekend. Their moms` family lives there. And there is a lot of sunshine, the pleasantly warm ocean and a house with a huge garden; perfect place for a quarantined summer vacation. If they had to stay within the four walls for another day, someone would have died. And ¨this way I can also redeem my sins for vanishing with them to another continent after their moms` death.

Meredith - Yeah, for some reason family members are not so enthusiastic about post-funeral trips like that.  
So, why did you leave Switzerland? Did Dr. Yang drive you crazy? [giggles]

Hayes - Actually, I was just about to hate her less by the time I left. [smiles]  
But I realized that the boys need to be closer to their family. And Yang told me that there will be a need for a pediatric surgeon here. And a twisted sister of hers. [smiles]

[Meredith smiles back]

Meredith - What was she thinking? Sending a McWidow?  
You know, we do not have to like each other just because we are both widows. [shrugs her shoulders]  
For God's sake, people are defined by so much more than their marital status. If one person on earth should know that, it`s Cristina. 

Hayes - McWidow?  
[smiles inquiringly]

[Meredith remains silent a for a second, raises her eyebrows with an embarrassed look on her face]

Meredith - Forget about that part. 

Hayes - So you have just used me for whiskey?  
[smiles knowingly]

[Meredith giggles]

Meredith - No, I like you. It is just annoying that I`m falling for a cliche. And it is even more annoying that she is always right.  
[smiles]

Hayes - She is always right, especially when you don't want her to be right.  
[smiles]

[They have a moment of silence. They are staring at each other with a shy smile. Both imagine kissing each other in their heads. Finally, Hayes breaks the silence]

Hayes - Look, Grey, I don't play games. I hate them and I`m very bad at them. I`m boring, I don't like the chase, I don't like drama. If I`m in, then I`m in and I expect the same. So, you can tell me if that is none of my business, but what is the deal with Deluca? You told him you loved him. That feeling doesn't disappear from one day to another.

Meredith - I loved him, I love him and I will love him. He became way more important for me than I had ever expected. But I`m not in love with him and I think I never actually was. And I think he was never in love with me. For very different reasons, but I think we were both in love with love. And it was right for the time, it was what we both needed and I don't regret any of it. 

[Hayes stands up without saying anything, his eyes are unreadable for Meredith. She sights resignedly].

Meredith - So...you are leaving…no hard feelings, I know I`m too messy for you. But just that you know; I`m not playing any games.

Hayes - I`m leaving because I`m pretty sure that if I want to be the first to take a test which arrives at 4 a.m. to the hospital, I better stop drinking now. It's really difficult to look into those messy sparkling eyes of yours without being able to kiss you. 

Meredith - Well, you definitely know how to make a perfect escape.  
[smiles] 

Hayes leaves the room, he is smiling when he is closing the door after himself.  
Meredith picks up her phone and types the following text message to Cristina with a huge smile on her face:

“I think I really like Irish whiskey. Any good Swiss chocolate over there?”

End


End file.
